NEW YORK — On June 22–23, 2026, James Chau, President of the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) and WHO Goodwill Ambassador for the Sustainable Development Goals, served as a lead moderator for the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS in New York. Invited by the President of the General Assembly, Her Excellency Annalena Baerbock, Mr. Chau guided the discussion on “Equitable Access to Science, Technology and Innovation – Accelerating HIV Prevention, Testing, Treatment and Care,” held in the Trusteeship Council Chamber at UN Headquarters.
Central to the discussion was the “40+20” call to action, a key target within the new UNGA Political Declaration to accelerate progress toward ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. The new target aims to ensure that by 2030, 40 million people have access to HIV treatment and 20 million people utilize new prevention technologies and other prevention options. Achieving this would bring the 2030 goals of reducing AIDS-related deaths and new HIV infections by 90% well within reach.
Mr. Chau has attended every High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS since 2011. He reflected on the urgency of the moment: “The fight is far from over. Since the beginning of the epidemic, 43.2 million lives have been lost to AIDS-related illnesses, and just last year, 1.2 million people were newly infected with HIV. We cannot afford complacency — how we act today, through this Political Declaration, will determine the course of tomorrow.”
United Nations General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock, who invited Mr. Chau to moderate, said in her opening remarks: “This is not the moment to step back. It is the moment to lean in, to protect the progress we have made, and to finish what humanity began more than thirty years ago. The end of AIDS is within our reach.”
In her remarks to the United Nations General Assembly, Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director, noted: “Let us not confuse progress with success. This is our last High-Level Meeting before the 2030 promise to end AIDS as a public health threat. We are just four years away. And the opportunity is extraordinary.”
At the invitation of UNAIDS, Mr. Chau also moderated the High-Level side event, “Reimagining integration and sustaining progress to the end of AIDS, TB and Malaria,” which featured global health leaders from UNAIDS, Stop TB, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and Malaria No More. Additionally, Mr. Chau joined UNAIDS and community partners at the international creative design studio Yabu Pushelberg for the High-Level Meeting's closing reception.
Mr. Chau’s participation in this High-Level Meeting is an extension of CUSEF’s enduring commitment to advance peace through global health. This spirit of collaboration reflects the same principles that guide the Foundation. CUSEF’s partnership with The Carter Center, alongside President Jimmy Carter’s extraordinary efforts to eradicate guinea worm disease, demonstrates what persistence and compassion can achieve — and underscores CUSEF’s growing work in the public health sector.
